Emerson College

On May 18, 2011 Jim O'Brien was named the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Emerson College and brings a wealth of experience and success with him.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, O'Brien played at Boston College for Hall of Fame coaches Bob Cousy and Chuck Daly.  Following graduation he played professionally for 4 seasons in the American Basketball Association, playing one year for basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain.

Prior to coaching at Emerson, O'Brien coached at the Division I level for 27 years.  He spent 5 years as an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut, followed by head coaching stops at St. Bonaventure University, Boston College and Ohio State University.

Jim's BC teams made post season appearances in 5 of his last 6 seasons, highlighted by the Elite Eight in 1993-94 and the Big East Championship in 1996-97.

At OSU, O'Brien took his teams to 4 consecutive NCAA tournaments, winning Big 10 titles in 2000 and 2002 and advancing to the Final Four in 1999.

For his efforts, Jim has been named Coach of the Year in 3 different conferences, the Atlantic 10 the Big East  and twice in the Big 10 and was selected National Co-Coach of the Year in 1999.

During his career, Jim has served as a spokesperson for various charities including the Parkinson Foundation, Make A Wish Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House.  This past year he served as a volunteer mentor for the Boston Scholar Athlete Program, an organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of the experience for the student-athlete's of Boston's inner city public schools.

O'Brien has 2 married daughters, Erin Wright and Amy Siggens and a four year old granddaughter, Marin.  He and his wife Mary reside in Boston.

Brian Dunne is entering his first season as an assistant men's basketball coach at Emerson College, after serving in the same position at Babson College for the 2010-2011 season.  A 2006 graduate of The Rivers School, Dunne captained the Red Wings and was an All-ISL Honorable Selection as a senior.  Dunne received his Bachelor's degree from Bates College in 2010, where he was a three-year letter winner and served as a student-assistant coach as a senior for the Bobcats. 

In addition to his work at the college level, Dunne is the Program Director for the Bay State Flash AAU Basketball Club.  Additionally, Dunne has worked for the Boston Celtics NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, where he assisted the Basketball Operations department.  Dunne is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Administrative Studies at Boston College and resides in Wayland, MA.

Jack is entering his first season as an assistant basketball coach at Emerson College after spending last season at Suffolk University.

In 2004, as a senior at Andover High School, Barrett was named All-Scholastic by both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.  Upon graduation from Andover, Barrett was a three year letter winner and two year captain at Franklin Pierce University.  He finished his collegiate career at WIT where he was nominated for the prestigious Bob Cousy Award which goes to the best player in New England under six feet.

Bill Curley joins the staff at Emerson after spending four years as the Boys Basketball Coach at Thayer Academy in Braintree, MA.

Bill was an outstanding player at Duxbury, HS where, as a senior he was recognized as one of the nation's premier players by being selected to the prestigious McDonald's All-American Team in 1990. 

Opting to play for current Emerson Coach Jim O'Brien at Boston College, Curley continued his illustrious career by being named Big East Conference Rookie of the Year as a freshmen and All Big East First Team in both his junior and senior years.  His college career was culminated by leading BC to the NCAA Elite Eight highlighted by consecutive wins over North Carolina (Dean Smith) and Indiana (Bob Knight) in 1994.

Upon graduating from BC Bill was drafted in the first round by the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and then went on to have a seven year pro career.

Bill continues to run and operate his very succesful Bill Curley Basketball Clinics in Duxbury where he lives with is wife Kim and their three children, Jack, Caroline and Andrew.